Beijing Investigates Economic Official

BEIJING—China is investigating an official at the country's top economic-planning body, the most recent in a string of cases targeting high-ranking officials.

Liu Tienan, one of 10 deputy directors at China's National Development and Reform Commission, is being investigated for "serious disciplinary violations," according to a Sunday report by the country's state-run Xinhua News Agency. In the past, the phrase has been used to refer to officials being investigated for corruption.

ENLARGE

Liu Tienan of the National Development and Reform Commission is being investigated for "serious disciplinary violations," according to the country's state-run Xinhua News Agency.
Imaginechina/Zuma Press

The investigation comes amid a campaign launched by President Xi Jinping to cut back on lavish spending by officials and crack down on corruption. Since formally taking power in March, Mr. Xi has been unusually blunt about the dangers corruption poses to China, saying that corruption could lead to protests that have the potential to topple the Communist Party's hold on power.

During the power transition earlier this year, analysts said, Chinese leaders tried to demonstrate their commitment to fighting corruption by appointing Wang Qishan, the former vice premier in charge of finance who has a reputation as a problem-solver, to lead the party's anticorruption body.

Mr. Liu served as the head of the National Energy Administration from 2008 until March, when he was replaced by Wu Xinxiong during an annual meeting of China's rubber-stamp parliament.

The Xinhua report didn't elaborate further on what Mr. Liu was being investigated for, and his name still appeared on the NDRC's website on Sunday.

He was unavailable to comment.

In recent years, China has removed a number of key officials for corruption. In December 2012 the Communist Party removed Li Chuncheng, deputy party secretary of the southwestern province of Sichuan, amid accusations by official media of graft.

In some cases, the removal of lower-level officials has been linked to accusations on social media of corruption. Late last year, Mr. Liu was accused of corruption by a high-ranking editor at Caijing Magazine, a respected financial magazine, over Sina Corp.'s Twitter-like service Weibo. The accusation came at a time when Mr. Liu was traveling with new anticorruption chief Mr. Wang.

Concerns over corruption also underscored the fall of former party star Bo Xilai, once a candidate for high office, who was ousted and now faces allegations of corruption and abuse of power. In April, prosecutors formally charged China's former railway chief with bribery and abuse of power, according to state media.

Mr. Xi's predecessor, Hu Jintao, also made calls for the party to tackle graft, but polls have showed the public perception of corruption has been rising because of concerns about the gap between rich and poor.

This copy is for your personal, non-commercial use only. Distribution and use of this material are governed by our Subscriber Agreement and by copyright law. For non-personal use or to order multiple copies, please contact Dow Jones Reprints at 1-800-843-0008 or visit www.djreprints.com.